ABSTRACT
Community is both idealized in urban discourse as a remedy for fragmentation, loneliness, and inequality and demonized for exclusion, conformity, and social control. When sociopolitical transformations are complex and multifaceted, the language of community can regain political appeal. It can help urban residents and policymakers to navigate ongoing transformations that are both global and local by providing a way to cope with uncertainty. This chapter claims that the ongoing social, political, and demographic transformations that affect cities and people’s lived realities make it imperative to explore community as a still-relevant and power-laden concept, yet beyond narratives of commonness and unity. Using the previous chapters as points of reflection, the chapter rethinks community as an emergent constellation that gains its sense through sharing the urban everyday. It sets out to account for the continued relevance of community in articulating a sense of place, belonging, and affiliation while withdrawing from nostalgic accounts of “lost” social cohesion. On these grounds, the chapter articulates an ephemeral understanding of living together that challenges both alarmist debates on social fragmentation and nostalgic accounts of lost communities.
